by Together for Europe | Apr 19, 2024 | 2024 Europe Day, News
An appeal in view of the upcoming European elections
Together for Europe endorses this appeal to institutions, politicians and candidates for the European elections. The document was drafted by CEC (Conference of European Churches), COMECE (Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union) and I.A.O. (International Assembly on Orthodoxy).
The document emphasises the importance of Christian values as fundamental for the construction of Europe and invites the European institutions to a regular and transparent dialogue with Churches and religious associations, as foreseen in Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty.
Download the declaration>>
The Steering Committe of Toghether for Europe
“Europe, be yourself!” – cf. Speech of Pope John Paul II in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) on 9th November 1982
by Together for Europe | Apr 9, 2024 | 2024 Europe Day, News
On the occasion of Europe Day on 9 May and in the run-up to the European elections in June, there will be an online conference with one of the speakers at the Friends of Together for Europe meeting in Timisoara 2023, the former Prime Minister of Slovakia (2021-2023), Eduard Heger. Also present will be Jeff Fountain, director of the Schuman Center of European Studies.
The conference (in English and German) will be held on
Thursday, 9 May 2024 at 7 p.m.
and has as its underlying theme: ‘Christian Roots and the Future of Europe’.
Access data can be found on the flyer>>
We hope you can participate!
by Together for Europe | Mar 13, 2024 | Experiences, reflections and interviews, News
The challenges for the protection of creation and an integral ecology are growing exponentially worldwide. On 2nd March 2024, the Together for Europe network has dedicated an entire day online to this topic. Professionals and activists from various Churches and Movements, from 9 European countries, spoke at the Seminar entitled: ‘Called to Unity – Towards an Ecology of Relationships’. An enthralling ‘journey’, in which the speakers in an atmosphere of increasing convergence presented their research and commitment to environmental protection, and then entered into dialogue with the many persons present in the ‘virtual hall’. Experiences already in place in many places and encouraging good practices, easily imitated, have highlighted the desire and commitment to respect and preserve creation for future generations. This unites us as Christians and easily connects us with others.
For our network it was time to deepen one of the ‘7 YESes’ with which we committed ourselves in 2007 at the big Stuttgart Manifestation. It states: “Let us say Yes to creation, by defending nature and the environment, gifts of God to be safeguarded with commitment that respects future generations.”
The inputs of this rich meeting were very interesting and informative. As an example, we quote two sentences from the contribution of Dr Stefania Papa[1]she emphasised “the network of complex and interdependent relationships between every living being and every element of nature, which, together, sustain life itself. These relationships are not unidirectional, but characterised by mutual exchanges of energy, matter and information”. While this creates harmony, there is also conflict, disruption. And it is precisely “this diversity of relationships, including both conflict and cooperation, that is fundamental to the functioning of ecosystems and to the continuous evolution of life on Earth, which is continually subject to new challenges”.
We are grateful to the speakers who allowed us to make their contributions available. You can download them at the bottom of this page.
During the Workshop, which was part of an EU-supported project, DialogUE, the European Grean Deal document was presented; this is an ambitious project in which the EU has developed some of the strictest environmental standards in the world. The contents of the Webinar and the answers of the participants to the questionnaires concerning this event will help to elaborate a KIT with concrete suggestions to the European Union. It will be delivered on 16th October 2024 to the European Institutions in Brussels, together with the results of the previous workshops on communication and social policies, held in 2023 and co-funded like the latter by the European Union.
The Team of the Secretariat of Together for Europe
Programme for Participants 2024 03 02 EN
Andre Galli – Green Fish, experience of a Christian ecological NGO 2024 03 02 EN
Catherine Devitt – Education for Faith-Consistent Investing, Experience FaithInvest 2024 03 02 EN
Gerhard Pross – Ecology of the heart 2024 03 02E EN
Jean Marc Ziade – Experience of an ‘Sustainable Hub’ 2024 03 02 EN
Lorna Gold – Commitment of Christian Churches in Europe to Care of Creation 2024 03 02 EN
Nicola Asproulis – Cosmic Personhood, from imago Dei to Imago mundi 2024 03 02 EN
Philip McDonagh – Considerations Article 17 TFEU and Green Deal 2024 03 02
Stefania Papa – Relationality in nature 2024 03 02 EN
See also the press release>>
You can review the event on YouTube>>
[1] Associate Professor of Ecology, Dept. of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’, Italy
by Together for Europe | Feb 15, 2024 | Experiences, reflections and interviews
“Called to unity – Towards an ecology of relationships”
This is the title of an
online workshop scheduled for 2 March 2024
which our network is promoting in 4 languages: English, Italian German and French.
The event was prepared with representatives of various Churches, Movements and Communities, with the aim of highlighting one of the ‘7 YESES’ of our journey together: the ‘YES to creation’.
During the morning, the speakers will take us through the Churches’ thinking on this subject; afterwards, we will dialogue with them to further explore the topic.
In the afternoon, ample space will be devoted to good practices in the efforts to safeguard creation which are already underway in various European countries.
The Focus? The relationships that form the basis of our acting and interacting with creation.
We would like to offer this opportunity to enhance a network regarding ecology, encouraging positive and imitable initiatives.
The Workshop is being supported by European Union Funds and is part of the ‘DialogUE’ project, which we joined as the Together for Europe network.
To participate, one needs to register via the link on the Flyer that you can download here>>. Subsequently, the link to the webinar, together with the programme, will be sent for registered participants.
We look forward to seeing you!
The Secretariat of Together for Europe
